Mt Kearsarge 05-06-2000

The sixth running of the Mount Kearsarge road race was
held under sunny skies and temperatures in the upper
60’s. This was the first time in the races
history that rain did not fall during the race. The
excellent conditions were balanced off by the early hatching
of black flies. None the less, the race drew its
largest crowd to date.

The 8.5m race which climbs over 2000’ also served as
the first run in the 3 race New England Mountain running
circuit. Kearsarge has been the kick-off event in the
circuit every year, and enjoys a dedicated following of
runners. The race attracted 6 former US Mountain
running team members (Casner, Dunham, Fram, Morse, Peterson,
and West) along with many runners preparing for Mount
Washington.

Eric Morse (last years circuit champion and two time New
England Mountain champion) and Craig Fram (one of the top
Master runners in the country) established an early lead over
the field. Morse pulled ahead after the 3 mile mark and
ran unchallenged to the finish. Morse’s time (a
PR) was the second fastest time recorded at Kearsarge, only
20 seconds short of the record. Fram continued on
alone in second to record the 7th fastest time
ever, and the Masters course record by more than 6
minutes. Fram’s point total of 97.8
(percentage of the winners time) was the highest ever for a
master in the New England mountain circuit. The
previous high score was held by Wayne Jacob (93.9) at
Stratton mountain in 1999.

Dave Dunham finished the circuit champion in 1996 and 1998
took third, with the 9th fastest time at
Kearsarge. Morse and Dunham hold 7 of the top ten
times. The remaining spots are held by former mountain
team members (Fram, Dan Verrington, and Richard Bolt).

Additional excellent performances were turned in despite
the warm conditions. GBTC’s Mark Reeder ran the
third fastest masters time, 3 seconds shy of the previous
course record. Jack Donahue ran the second fastest time
for 50+ men, and Walt Kuklinski made his second appearance on
the top 10 list with the 7th fastest time.
In the 60+ group John Pelton crushed the previous course
record by over five minutes. Frank Salvatore also
bettered the previous course record with the second fastest
time.

On the women’s side Suzy West and Nikki Kimball both
placed in the top ten list with a 5th and
10th fastest time respectively. Suzy’s
14 th place overall was the second highest for a
women. In the 40+ group, Tracey Lombardi ran the
2nd fastest time, missed the course record by 13
seconds. Gail Breslow had the 5th and Pamela
Hall had the 10th fastest times. The 50+
ladies had Heidi McGaffigan and Jane Levesque pick up the
5th and 6th on the top ten
list. Diana Avery took the win in the 60+ age group
with the 4th fastest time.

Other notes:
The field was 80% male and 20% female, the lowest percentage
of women runners ever. The male open group had the most
change from last year (+5%). Mike Casner continues to
lead the circuit point totals (from 1996 to present) with
1,310.5 points in 14 races. Morse confuted to extend
his lead in average points with 99.66 in 9 races. Roger
Gosselin maintained his lead in appearances with 15 (out of
15).

The circuit continues at Wachusett mountain on May 27th
and concludes at Pack Monadnock on June 11th approximately 50
runners are expected to complete the entire circuit.